Finnish legislation

Finland has implemented both the Nagoya Protocol and the EU regulation as the new Act on the Implementation of the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity enters into force. The government proposal related to the act contains plenty of background information both on the Nagoya Protocol and the EU’s and Finland’s national legislation.

The Finnish act on genetic resources regulates in detail how some of the stipulations of the Nagoya Protocol are put into force nationally. The act also puts into force some of the regulations of the EU Genetic Resources Decree. The act does not contain restrictions for the use of Finland's genetic resources, but it requires that those who import genetic resources into Finland report these to the competent authorities in Finland within six months of acquisition. By doing so the authorities acquire information on users and may oversee the legitimacy of the acquisition and use of genetic resources in Finland.

According to the act, a database will be established for such traditional knowledge of the Sami people that relates to genetic resources. The Sami parliament may deposit such traditional knowledge into the database that may be used research and development use. Data from the database would be acquired through the competent authority.

The Finnish act on genetic resources contains also those regulations related to monitoring that the EU Genetic Resources Decree calls for. The competent authorities in Finland are the Finnish Environment Institute and Natural Resources Institute Finland. The Finnish Environment Institute acts as the national information focal point. In addition, the act on genetic resources contains statutes on monitoring activities, administrative coercive measures and sanctions.